Oil and gas industry i nput to INC-3

Oil and gas industry input to INC-3

October 30, 2011

Brian Doll

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Topics

• What is IPIECA?

• How much mercury is contained in a typical crude oil?

• What happens to mercury when crude oil is refined?

• How does sulfur in crude oil help remove mercury from refinery products?

• What are industry good practices for managing mercury?

• Summary

• 31 companies, comprising 6 largest mutinationals and 7 national oil companies representing over half of world’s oil production

• Global oil & gas industry principal channel of communication with the UN

• Helps industry improve its environmental and social performance by:– Developing, sharing and promoting

good practices and solutions – Enhancing and communicating

knowledge and understanding – Engaging members and others in the

industry – Working in partnership with key

stakeholders

What is IPIECA?

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2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

0%

50%

100%

January 2006

Lead Phase-out Progress in Sub-Saharan AfricaPercent of Unleaded Gasoline Available

How much mercury is contained in a typical crude oil?

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• Mercury presence in crude oil is extremely variable

• Historical data in the literature is conflicting

• IPIECA has undertaken a survey of 400+ global crudes and has observed a range of less than 0.5 -1,000 ppb

– Mercury data not available from 3rd party crude assay vendors– Mercury data currently available are proprietary

Next Steps for IPIECA• Prepare a mercury management good practice document

• Pursue strategy of publishing mercury data in the good practice document

Answer:

Ad hoc IPIECA member survey* covering over 400 global crude oils found:

• Median Hg content = 1.3 PPB


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Answer:

Ad hoc IPIECA member survey covering over 400 global crude oils found:


• 84% of crudes were < 10 PPB


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Answer:




• 13% were 10-100 PPB


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Answer:




• 13% were 10-100 PPB

• 3% were >100 PPB

How much Mercury is contained in a typical Crude Oil?

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Answer:




• 13% were 10-100 PPB

• 3% were >100 PPB


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• Less than 1% of global production volume > 100 PPB

% of Crudes > indicated Hg content

Hg

Cont

ent

– Pa

rts

per

Billi

on

Mercury contents of crude oils inad hoc IPIECA member survey

1970 range

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%


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Mercury contents of crude oils inad hoc IPIECA member survey

IPIECA range

% of Crudes > indicated Hg content

Hg

Cont

ent

– Pa

rts

per

Billi

on

Quoted 2005 range of 0.01-0.5 ppm Hg* (10-500 ppb Hg) close to industryexperience, but IPIECA survey data median is lower than this range

* Paragraph 16 of UNEP Report

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• Refineries convert crude oil into useful products by:– Separating, breaking down, rearranging carbon-hydrogen

molecules– Removing impurities – sulfur, heavy metals such as mercury

• Mercury leaves a typical refinery by the following routes:

What happens to mercury when crude oil is refined?

WasteRefined ProductsAir EmissionsPetroleum CokeWater Discharges

“Bay Area Petroleum Refinery Mercury Air Emissions, Deposition, and Fate”, June 2009, prepared for Western States Petroleum Associations by ERM-West, Inc. and Flow Science Inc.

Note: IPIECA Waste Management document to be published by end of 2011

How does sulfur in crude oil help remove mercury from refinery products?

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Hg and S havestrong affinity

Very stable, nonvolatile solid, very low solubility in

water

Hg R-SH

Hg

R-SH

R-SH

HgS

Hydrocarbonscontaining sulfur

• R-SH = “Mercaptans” from Latin mercurium captans, literally, seizing mercury

• Sulfur = active agent in Mercury Removal Units to protect aluminum process equipment and catalysts

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Industry experience:• There is a direct inverse relationship

– i.e. High Sulfur crudes are very low in mercury; high mercury crudes are low in sulfur

– A typical refinery has far more sulfur than mercury, and therefore converts Hg to solid HgS which ends up in sludges (waste)

What is the relationship between sulfur and mercury in oil and gas?

Results from Environmental Canada study, enhanced with data from the public domain

Sulfur, wt %

Hg,

wt p

pb Environmental Canada study results

Published results for higher mercury crudes

Results from the Environment Canada study enhanced with data from the public domain

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• Know the mercury content of crude oil coming into and leaving the refinery

• Monitor worker exposure to mercury to ensure a safe workplace

• Use proper waste management – Treat refinery wastewater to a level consistent with its disposition– Treat or re-inject oil field produced water where high mercury

levels are found• Use Mercury Removal Units where appropriate to protect

catalysts and aluminum process equipment from mercury attack

What are industry good practices for managing mercury?

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Summary

• Mercury in crude oil is variable• IPIECA ad hoc survey representing a cross section of

global crude oils shows:– Range of less than 0.5 – 1000 ppb mercury in crude oil– 1.3 ppb is the median mercury content– Approximately 3% of crude oils representing less than 1% of

global production are above 100 ppb • Refineries already remove most mercury from products

as solid waste due to effect of sulfur• IPIECA plans to publish a good practice document for

mercury management including IPIECA survey data

Thank you on behalf of the IPIECA members

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Back-up slides

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How does the processing of crude Oil compare to coal?

Coal is typically burned directly – crude oil is refined

Crude Oil Fuels

Refining

Waste90% Hg

Burning

Coal

Burning

Note: IPIECA Waste Management document to be published by end of 2011

89 ppb HgMedian level - USEPA

1.3 ppb HgMedian level - IPIECA

Oil and gas industry i nput to INC-3

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